Stage Set for Defensive Coordinator Al Golden to Add Familiar Faces to Bengals' Defense

CINCINNATI — The NFL Draft is less than a month away and it's no secret that the Bengals need to bolster their defense in a big way.

Part of that transformation already happened. Cincinnati brought in defensive coordinator Al Golden, defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery and linebackers coach Mike Hodges.

They also signed multiple free agents, including some familiar faces and added a true nose tackle in T.J. Slaton.

As things shift toward the draft, it's reasonable to think Golden will hope to get some of his defensive players from Notre Dame. The Bengals have six picks in this year's draft and the Fighting Irish have multiple players that could help Cincinnati's transformation on defense.

That begins and ends with free safety Xavier Watts. The Bengals have a need at safety and Watts brought stability to the back end of Golden's defense at Notre Dame.

How important was he to their success?

"Very important. He was an integral part of it," Golden said at the NFL Combine last month. "There's a comfort level when you're play-caller and you know someone has the same heartbeat, someone understands exactly what you're looking for. I'm excited for him and the opportunity he has here moving forward. It's really important that we develop that alignment here in Cincinnati. I think that's going to be critical for us. We're talking to all the safety group that we're on the same page and we can communicate and we can solve problems and more importantly the empowerment. Be empowered to solve the problem. We can fix decisions, but we can't fix indecision. We have to make sure we have decisive guys back there."

Watts is projected to be a day two draft pick, which means the Bengals will have to take him with their second round selection (No. 49 overall) if he's still on the board.

Watts didn't test like an elite athlete during the pre-draft process, but his measurements, 40-yard dash time and other numbers should help solidify him as a day two selection.

He isn't the only Notre Dame defensive player that Cincinnati could target. Linebacker Jack Kiser is projected to go of the board in rounds 4-5 and could certainly help bring some stability to a linebacker room that's going to have some new faces this season.

Kiser had a quality pre-draft process, posting an 8.67 relative athletic score, which means he tested like an 87th percentile athlete among NFL linebackers. He ran a 4.62 40-yard dash, and posted elite scores in the short shuttle (4.2 seconds) and 3-cone drill (6.8 seconds).

He's on the smaller side at 6-1, 231 pounds, but he has the experience, the production and the athletic testing that would make him an ideal target on day three of the draft.

Kiser had 90 tackles (five for loss) and two sacks last season. His age (24) and size will push him down draft boards, but there's no reason why the Bengals should consider him in rounds 4-5.

Rylie Mills is another defensive player the Bengals could target in the draft. Mills is a quality pass rusher that could give the Bengals' defensive front some added juice. He's projected to be a fifth or sixth round pick.

The Bengals have needs all over their defense and Golden had one of the most disciplined defenses in all of college football. If he wants a few of his guys in Cincinnati, the Bengals should have an opportunity to make that happen.